SETTLEMENT GEOGRAPHY OF NUCLEATED SETTLEMENTS WITHOUT ADMINISTRATIVE INDEPENDENCE IN BÁCS-KISKUN COUNTY

Abstract

In Bács-Kiskun county there are 106 nucleated settlements that are not administratively independent. Their common characteristic is that they are census-designated as a part of a settlement, have a settlement core and in at least one of the censuses from 1980 onwards had a population of 20 persons. Based on our analysis, the 106 settlements can be divided genealogically into the following types: 28 manors, 19 tanya centres, 14 Kalocsa clustered tanyas, 6 suburban settlements, 15 settlements with a holiday and tourism function, 11 agricultural co-operative centers, 3 settlements with an institutional function, 4 settlements on the edge of a larger town or village and 6 other settlements not elsewhere classified. In 1949, there were around 11 000 people living in these settlements, a number that slowly increased until 1980, from where the population growth became more dynamic: in 1990, there were around 17 000 people living in these settlements, a number that exceeded 24 000 in 2022. The most dynamic group of settlements are the suburban settlements, and also the settlements with a holiday and tourism function and those with an institutional role, but population growth in these groups is not common in all decades. The population of the tanya centres and the agricultural co-operative centres grew until 1990, and then both started to decline. The manors and the clustered tanyas near Kalocsa lost significant population. Thus, while all but the latter two groups experienced population growth (or stagnation) between 1949 and 1990, after 1990 only the suburbanisation, holiday-tourism and institutional settlements increased their population. The empirical research shows that the non-administratively independent nucleated settlements of Bács-Kiskun County, form a highly differentiated picture from a functional point of view. Among them, the residential function is dominant, while formal economic activity and the presence of municipal services are on the decline.